(note, We at ACOB, tend to have some discussion and answers to questions in the message. Some are more rhetorical than others. I've noted questions in color to indicate answers were welcome.)

Immanuel, God is with us.

These words are the centerpiece of what we proclaim at Advent. (7:14 and 8:8)

If God is with us, —these 2,000 years after the birth of Jesus— we should spend time reminding each other of the places we ‘see’ and ‘hear’ and experience God…as being WITH us.

I have noted that here, in this congregation — as is true in many others,— the places most named when we speak of experiences of the Divine are intimately tied to creation.

Congregation: (Name a few of them now:)

This year our Advent celebration - will also be tied to Creation!

…it’s more appropriate than you might think.

our Christmas traditions are tied to greenery and candles, evergreen trees and scenes of snow. Yet it was the bright sun of CREATION that lit the underside of remaining leaves on fire as it crested over the horizon on this 1st Sunday of Advent.

This summer just past, the ‘BookWorms’ (our church reading group) read Diana Butler Bass’s Grounded. If you didn’t read it with us, but want to, this month would be a good time.

In her book, Diana Bass makes some observations, (many of which we are already aware.)

Observations about church and unchurched people in the 21st century. And

observations about people who classify themselves as ‘spiritual but not religious’.

(you’ve heard that phrase before..)

ASK: What would you ask someone who self-classifies as ‘spiritual but not religious’?

Bass’s observations do not bemoan the loss of these people from our congregations,

nor does she offer suggestions to get them back — IF they were ever ‘churched’ in the first place.

Her conclusions are more practical.

She observes a ‘shifting conception of God” in the last decade from UP THERE to …well closer.

The shift is also From a God who is mediated by pastors and priests, or at least thru the church itself—

—to a conception of God that is “unmediated and local.”

“One that animates the natural world and human activity in profoundly intimate ways.

The God we worship today is the “heartbeat at the center of things”.

This may not seem surprising to you. Yet it is far different than the structures of Christianity as they have traditionally been practiced.

The intimate connection to the Divine was once only experienced by the mystics YET now seems to be the dominate way large numbers of people experience the Holy.

How does Diana Bass know all this? The answer is in the words we use.

“People who self-identify as #SPnotR or those who are unaffiliated with a denomination, use a vocabulary of theological intimacy…as do many of us in more traditional faiths.”

Again, this is not necessarily a bad thing. Certainly we don’t consider ourselves to be the gatekeepers of God, do we?

The prophet Isaiah that we just heard from, spoke of a reality where God’s word, found in the TorAH’s instruction, “is not only for Israel, but for ALL the nations.”

Many nations will go and say,

“Come, let’s go up to the LORD’s mountain,

to the house of Jacob’s God

so that he may teach us his ways

and we may walk in God’s paths.”

“God’s word and law are NOT the exclusive right of any particular people, but are ‘spoken’ for all who Stream towards the mountain of God.”

Perhaps what Isaiah foretold so long ago, is coming about NOW, in our time!

. . .

Bass says, “People are leading their own theological revolution and finding that the Spirit is much more WITH the world than we had previously been taught.”

ASK: What were you taught or what was implied about WHERE God is?

Bass also made the point that for generations past, people’s questions were about God’s intention towards them, or their people. (For instance, what does God intend for Israel?)

But since a time in the 20th century, (really after WWI and II), people began to ask, WHERE IS GOD?

Where was God when the holocaust happened?

Where was God when Hitler was elected by the German people?

etc.

it’s a different question

Back then, People understood God to be in control of a more “vertical faith” or “elevator religion” where God is up, we are somewhere in the middle and Hell is down.

That is not the way most of us experience God today. (Even tho we still sing about God this way in our most beloved hymns and sometimes we talk about God in heaven and EVIL in hell.)

In the past, “God was omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient;

All powerful, in All places, and All knowing.

The God Bass now calls, “Grounded”, “is a God in relationship with space and time as the love that connects and creates all things, known in and with the world.”

(For me, these are words I’ve been waiting to hear since I first read, Gene Robinson’s book, Honest to God - written in the 60’s. A book I discovered as I wrestled with a call to ministry,

to follow a God whom I no longer thought of as “up there,”— —

But until I could place God, in some small way of my own understanding — I couldn’t imagine following ANYWHERE.)

In spite of these modern revelations—- In advent —of all seasons, we often revert to an ancient understanding of God in order to listen again to our favorite Bible stories.

do we need to?

title

***ASK: Do we need to have a magical, ‘semi-charmed’ life in order to believe the Biblical stories of Christmas? ***

Is Advent about putting REALITY aside so we can enter the stable?

Or

Do we merely need to open our eyes to see ALL life as ‘charmed’ and infused with the holy?

The stories all thru the Bible tell us of a “God who comes close [to humanity] who is compelled by a burning desire to make heaven on earth (up comes down) and occupy human hearts.”

In Abrahamic, Buddhism, Hinduism and Native faiths, there is a rich tradition of the HOLY coming near to touch humanity with all that is DIVINE.

From the promise to Abram and Sara to the burning bush and Moses, thru the reign of King David, to prophets like Isaiah, thru exile and return, —-again and again,

God comes near, calls out, reaches thru,

blinds and unblinds people to the point where they can see the Holy right before OUR EYES.

In a way, this revolution about God is a “RE-enchantment of the world” as we locate God everywhere and in everyday life.

In Advent, we again celebrate God ‘showing up’ here among us.

ASK: isn’t it just when we most need the Lord of Hosts to be with us?

OR

ASK: Where do you most need God to be right now?

This —is— Immanuel, God with us -

“God in stars and sunrise,

God as the face of a neighbor,

God in acts of justice,

God as the wonder of love.

The changes we experience “reveal not a dreadful, distant God, but that intimate presence of mystery that abides with the world,

a spirit of compassion that breathes hope and healing”, into places big and small.

The 20th century horror of the Holocaust and the 21st century horrors of Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech, Orlando and Charleston, South Carolina, and

the injustice coming to light in our legal system that punishes people of color more than those seen as ‘white’ —

—ALL these tragedies are not places bereft of God. Nor are they scenes of horror that a Heavenly puppet-master caused.

But in each one, God can be found -

among the victims and the rescue workers.

In the small and large acts of compassion shown by human for human.

Where is God?

in unselfish acts of heroism or unrecognized stands for justice.

THESE are the “places where faith is being re-birthed “from the Ground UP!”

It’s not just the unchurched who have discovered the intimate ‘God with us’. —We have known this God all along.

we celebrate God With Us.

God is with us as We keep moving toward the hope we have in God’s future by the choices we make today..

Sunday, November 27, 2016

I haven't posted. It seemed that my posts and rants have been more appropriate for Twitter than the fullness of a blog.
So I think I will post my Advent Sermons here.
Based on some work with Diana Butler Bass's Grounded.

Since I HATE the saying, "God is in control." and I refuse to believe that all the hate and racism and ugliness that has been reported lately (but has always been out there) is in anyway part of God's desires for humanity.

So a walk into creation as we prepare to hear again the stories of Christ's birth seems so very delightful..although you can guess it won't be all sweetness and light. After all, we know John the Baptist will show up someplace! After all, it's ADVENT.

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Jesus For President: I was just wondering about how popular Jesus would be in the climate of today's elections. Here are a few quick thoughts I've had. I welcome your comments - which may get edited since spam does accumulate..

Humility - while some of our scriptures indicate more openly that he is the Son of God, others have him referring to himself as the Son of Man. or “Human One”. Even instructing his disciples (when they figure out his references) to keep quiet and not tell anyone. I think ‘Son of God’ might get him more votes.

Commander in Chief - would be a problem. He never tried to ‘take anyone’s swords away’. He did stop his disciples from using them at the time of his arrest so it is doubtful that he would have sent troops to war. So he’d lose the hawk vote, and also lose the ‘strong defense’ vote.

War on Poverty - I do think he'd resurrect LBJ’s war on poverty and commit significant resources to eliminating poverty and hunger. Like “Bread for the World” says, we have the resources to end hunger RIGHT NOW, all we have to do is allocate them better. Jesus would do that. (If congress didn’t stop him.)

Security - I do think Jesus would be for strong encryption. He spoke in parables that we are STILL trying to understand, so I think he would have very strong encryption to all communications. But he might freely share the encrypted messages and let the world try to understand. This would certainly take care of leaks and hacking…

Appearance - We don’t know about how he would dress in today’s world. Certainly the sandals and robe would be an interesting look over pants. Being an middle-easterner, he might be used to head-covering, although the images created in the last century show long flowing hair. His middle-eastern origin and distinctly Jewish features might divide the vote along ethnic lines. (Of course his birth certificate would prevent his running. But this is all hypothetical anyway.)

Demeanor - We also don’t know if he smiled enough, or too much, or had straight white teeth. And we all know how important are these finite details of presidential demeanor.

Life - Although he is pro-life, his definition of how to stand up for life is a bit different that we are used to hearing in 2016. And he seemed willing to let people act in private according to their conscience- he didn’t pick up the first or last stone… I’m not sure the “religious right’ would vote for him at all.

Pardon - Certainly his proclivity for forgiveness would turn off the ‘law and order’ vote.

Immigration - He liked to freely move between regions and lifted up the immigrants and social outcasts of his day, so we have to think open borders would be part of his platform.

No PAC funding -

But we know Jesus could never be elected. Even without all the above lost votes, his constant barrage against those with money and great wealth would eliminate any donations from business, wealthy, PACS and the like. Without such funding, how would he secure any but his own vote.

It's fun and there are so many to choose from. The challenging part is figuring out where I'm going in enough time to pick the title. I had to google this last one but once I watch the video I remembered it. Here's one of the videos.

Monday, September 12, 2016

I came up with the inspiration last week of naming my sermon "Losing My Religion" after R.E.M.'s 1991 hit. Then I wondered, "What if I named all my fall sermons from 90's song titles?" Just going through my iTunes I found loads of options and created a potential list. But if you have a favorite, send me the title.
Meanwhile, maybe I can create a sidebar for the list. Next week's could be

Thursday, September 8, 2016

I just wrote someone that time off is sometimes the best spiritual gift!. September is such a busy time for families and workers. Everyone seems to feel the "Back to school/work/session". I wonder if we feel it more in Washington DC?

This week actually feels a little better than last week, but there's still so much to do, just not as much running around. Since there is so much sitting, reading and typing to go along with planning and fall events, I am trying to keep up a daily workout that became more part of my life in July when I was on vacation. It feels good. But it sure is hot, so I'm going to an AC gym thanks to Arlington's 55+ "Gold" plan and their senior/community centers.

Funny how much of the work I'm doing will include recommending people take time for spiritual outings, spiritual classes, etc. So this Friday we cancelled a Young Adult meal and discussion. Perhaps the time will be the best spiritual gift of all.

About Me

I'm a second career pastor in the Church of the Brethren. I went to seminary after spending 12 years in outdoor ministry. I love spending time with my adult children and enjoy computer technology. Blogging is fun and I love Twitter.

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Disclaimer, but of course.

While I am a Church of the Brethren pastor in Arlington, VA. everything written in this blog is my personal opinion and is not read or approved in advance. It may not represent the position or opinion of the congregation I serve nor the denomination. That's what you expected, isn't it?